CWI SPANS GENERATIONS

 By Marty Baker

A father and son from Elizabeth, West Virginia, participated in the Preparation for AWS CWI-CWE Welding Inspector / Educator Examination course recently at the Hobart Institute.  David R. Cheuvront and his son Kenneth are third and fourth-generation welder/riggers and work together out of the Boilermaker Local 667. 

“My grandfather was a charter member of Boilermaker Local 667,” says David.  “He was 91-years-old when he passed away last year.”

The trade has been good for the two, who work to code for pressure vessel welding in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Michigan, and even as far away as North Dakota.  David has 32 years of experience.  Kenneth completed his four-year union  apprenticeship and has an additional three years of welding experience, following a four-year tour of duty in the U.S. Navy.

“We keep busy most all the time,” says Kenneth.

“In the union, the more you work, the more you gain toward retirement, so we work as much as we can,” comments David, who maintains a machine and fabricating shop at home where he does metal work and gunsmithing in addition to his work through the union.   

The men chose to come to the Hobart Institute for the training because “this is the best place,” says David.  “The certification will open more doors for us and provide us with the opportunity for more work.”

Kenneth has two sons and a daughter.  Maybe some day they will make the fifth-generation of Boilermakers in the Cheuvront family!